Thursday, May 31, 2012

New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

The measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.

According to an audit released today by City Comptroller John C. Liu, the contractor selected to streamline the City’s vital 911 call system was unqualified and so poorly monitored that it was able to overbill taxpayers by as much as $163 million. Because of the severity of the findings and potential for fraud in both the vendor selection and billing processes, Comptroller Liu has referred the matter to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for further review.

This follows a previous audit released by Comptroller Liu in March that found the Emergency Communications Transformation Program (ECTP) had only one component up and running, was seven years behind schedule, and a billion dollars over budget.

Today’s audit found that severe mismanagement by DoITT has resulted in the City taxpayers not getting what they paid for. In fact, the systems integration portion of the much needed 911 upgrade could cost an additional $362 million, with taxpayers entitled to as much as $163 million in restitution.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council are playing a familiar game of political hot-foot with the city's firehouses.

Twenty firehouses are on the chopping block in New York City in the mayor's current budget, the same number that have ended up there in previous years, only to be saved by eleventh-hour wrangling.

In the past, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz have fought to save Engine 294 on Jamaica Avenue, which serves parts of Forest Hills. It was closed once already in the city's history, from 1975 to 1991.

On Tuesday, the engine company was the site of a rally with City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Assembly members Mike Miller and Rory Lancman, and state Sen Joe Addabbo.

After U.S. Airways Flight 1549 cruised to a perfect splash landing and Captain "Sully" Sullenberger made sure all 150 people got off the plane alive, passengers started paying attention to just how deadly birds over an airport can be.

But now the F.A.A. is turning a blind eye to the problem, basically saying in a federal court of appeals today that their hands are tied to stop potentially deadly bird strikes at LaGuardia Airport.

The problem all stems over New York's City's bid to build a giant trash transfer station across Flushing Bay. It's close to finished--and no one seems to be able to stop it.

Anyone who's ever seen trash in action knows it's a magnet for birds, which see it as food. New York City has been embroiled in an on-going fight to get its North Shore Transfer Station, which will host 3,500 tons daily of New York garbage just 700 yards from LaGuardia's runways, up and running. It's largely built now, and should be on-line within a year.

Randy Mastro is a former Deputy Mayor for the City of New York. He's an attorney too. "That's a grave concern. It's a disaster waiting to happen. It's a monumentally bad idea," intoned Mastro, pulling no punches.

And now he's going up against the F.A.A. in court to point out since they give NYC millions of dollars a year to run and build stuff at LaGuardia, they can tell NYC not to put a trash facility really near by, bringing in flocks of killer birds.

But the F.A.A. doesn't see it that way. Their lawyers argued in court today that NYC doesn't actually own LaGuardia. The land under LaGuardia, sure. But not the airport. Therefore, the F.A.A. can't tell the City what to do to keep passengers safe. And yes, you guessed where this is going, the F.A.A. won't hold the Port Authority (they run the airport) accountable either. For some similarly inscrutable reasons.

Bottom line: The F.A.A., which doles out hundreds of millions in tax dollars every year (your money), won't tell a city that what it's doing is possibly endangering lives. Because of some really difficult to understand funding/accountability rules.

Representative Gary L. Ackerman, who unexpectedly announced in March that he would not seek re-election to Congress, is venturing into the primary contest to succeed him, backing the candidate he says best embodies his values: Assemblywoman Grace Meng.

Mr. Ackerman’s decision, to be announced Tuesday morning at the Pomonok Senior Center in Flushing, Queens, was hardly assured, given his reputation as an eccentric politician not known for regularly making endorsements. And while some political analysts assumed that Mr. Ackerman favored Ms. Meng, the choice of Representative Joseph Crowley and the Queens Democratic establishment, his pledge to campaign vigorously on her behalf could help sway constituents who have supported him during his nearly 30-year career.

Mr. Ackerman, in an interview, praised Ms. Meng’s chief competitors in the June 26 primary, Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman and City Councilwoman Elizabeth S. Crowley. Indeed, Mr. Ackerman said that all three were “philosophically close to the same place” on key issues like Israel and economic advocacy for the middle class.

But in what could be viewed as critiques of Mr. Lancman, an aggressive legislator who once mulled challenging Mr. Ackerman, and Ms. Crowley, whose candidacy has soured her relationship with her cousin, Congressman Crowley, Mr. Ackerman, 69, said that Ms. Meng’s self-effacing style and background as a fellow child of immigrants had won him over.

In a much-hyped press conference yesterday in Queens, veteran Congressman Gary Ackerman endorsed Assemblywoman Grace Meng to be his successor in Washington, D.C. – but did not bring up the fact that he has a financial interest in Meng’s campaign.

In a sometimes heated interview after the event, Ackerman did confirm that he is a part-owner of the Queens-based political consulting and printing firm Multi-Media, which is serving as the primary consultant to Meng’s well-funded congressional campaign.

Ackerman told City & State repeatedly that the financial relationship with Meng’s campaign had no role in the endorsement, which was described by the New York Times as “hardly assured” because of Ackerman’s reputation as an eccentric who does not usually back candidates.

“Did it affect my endorsement? No,” Ackerman said, acknowledging that he was aware of Meng’s business relationship with the consulting firm he co-owns before making his endorsement decision. “[Multi-Media] doesn’t run my life and I don’t run their business.”

The promise of more than 4,000 units of low- and middle-income housing was a significant selling point for two of the city's largest new developments, Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and Willets Point in Queens.

Today, they are moving forward, but the housing pieces have been pushed back for years behind other portions of the multibillion-dollar projects, as the boom-era visions are proving to be difficult to see through in a slowly recovering economy.

In recent weeks, the Bloomberg administration reached a tentative deal with the Related Cos. and Sterling Equities to redevelop a large industrial swath of land at Willets Point, in a plan that now calls for housing to be built as a third step with a groundbreaking by 2025, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies would first spend years building a hotel and a large retail center in the area before moving on to constructing the housing in an unproven and polluted site near Citi Field.

At Atlantic Yards, the project's centerpiece basketball arena is nearing completion. But developer Forest City Ratner Cos. has yet to begin any of the 6,400 units of housing it once anticipated being built by 2016—2,250 of which would be for low- and middle-income families. Forest City has cited higher than expected costs and an inclement market, although it plans to break ground this year on its first building with 175 below-market-rate units.

The delays have frustrated officials and given fuel to critics of the project, which went through a contested public approval process before the recession.

Astoria is armed with dozens of newly trained block-watch experts ready to rein in the neighborhood's 5 percent uptick in major crime.

The neighborhood watch — the first of its kind in Astoria in more than 25 years — is set to become "extra eyes and ears for police officers," officials said.

It's the brainchild of Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who posted the idea on Facebook and other sites in November and organized the first training session last week.

Last week, volunteers were given block-watcher IDs, trained how to detect suspicious behavior and activity — and instructed how to give useful specifics when they call 311 or 911. Local officials said they hope the program will soon expand beyond 30 volunteers.

Major crime in the 114th Precinct is up about 5 percent this year through May 20, according to NYPD statistics.

City sanitation cops are following a paper trail to bust a new breed of thieves.

Sly scrap bandits have taken to swiping bags of paper and cardboard left on curbs for the city’s Sanitation Department, following a dramatic rise in the value of the recyclable material, officials said.

Mixed paper has more than doubled in price over the past two years, going from around $40 a ton to as high as $120.

That huge price increase has been fueled by dwindling amounts of paper ending up in the recycling bin, as consumers switch to electronic forms of communication.

“[Thieves] can take a couple of tons off of the street in a night and get about $250.”

Cops with the city’s Department of Sanitation this year have already impounded 49 vehicles — mostly vans and small, rented moving trucks — for allegedly being used to pilfer bags of mixed paper off the streets.

That’s up from last year, when only 40 vehicles were impounded for similar crimes over 12 months.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The FBI is investigating the Queens Republican Party, its consultants and at least three people it recommended to the city Board of Elections, according to sources recently quizzed by federal agents.

The probe appears to be focused on how board employees may have used their official positions to further their careers as political consultants, as well as their party’s ambitions in local primary elections.

Board employees are recommended by both political parties in each of the five boroughs and are hired by board commissioners.

The names of at least three employees recommended by the Queens GOP — including Stephen Graves, whom the board suspended in April after being caught on tape soliciting cash from a company seeking a contract — came up in questions posed by the FBI, the sources said.

One source said Queens GOP Chairman Philip Ragusa and Executive Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone pushed a board official out of her job for not taking a rival, Myrna Littlewort, off the ballot during a state committee leadership race.

The official, Katherine James, the board’s former deputy chief clerk, said, “They wanted Myrna off the ballot, and there was no way I could do that fair and square.”

The federal probe stems from reports in The Post detailing politicians’ complaints that Queens GOP consultants tried milking them for cash, according to two sources interviewed by the feds.

Congressional contender Elizabeth Crowley seemed overly preoccupied with her cell phone during a recent Queens candidate debate, prompting at least one member of the audience to question whether the Councilwoman was getting answers via the mobile from her staff in the audience.

Crowley can be seen checking her cell phone nearly 20 times during the Kissena Park Civic Association debate last Thursday, according to a video link provide the Daily News and posted on YouTube.

Crowley is busy typing and reading her cell as the other hopefuls for the re-drawn 6th Congressional District in Queens grappled with debate questions.

"At first, I thought she was Googling answers or something, but she kept looking at her people in the audience, so I think she was getting answers and information," said a civic leader who also filmed the debate.

"At the very least, it was amazingly rude, and stupid not to give your full focus to the debate," said the videographer, who has not officially endorsed any candidate but did applaud Assemblyman Rory Lancman's proposed bills tackling community overdevelopment.

"If I saw Lancman do this, I would call him out, or any of the other candidates.," he said. "A congressional seat is too important to have someone seemingly getting fed answers."

Crowley's spokesman said such allegations were absurd, and untrue.

"She was using her phone to take notes on the questions," said spokesman Eric Yun. "Other candidates had pen and paper, but she was taking notes on her phone."

Why would she need to take notes if her communications director/spokesman was in the audience? Wouldn't he be doing that for her?

I have been complaining since approximately March of 2011 in regards to the garbage/litter problem in Jamaica, Queens and to very little avail, especially certain problem areas that I have brought up in the past. I will continue to contact all of you until something finally gets done in regards to this major problem in Jamaica, Queens.

The problem areas that are in close proximity to where I live are the following (attached is a video of the problem areas as well as a link below to the video):

Problem Garbage/Litter Areas:

1. NW corner of 170th St & 90th Avenue: An empty lot with a wire fence that has garbage inside and always on the outside on the sidewalk. This one I have been complaining about since early 2011 and nothing has been done. The owner came out one time in the summer of 2011, put some garbage in garbage bags and left the garbage bags in the lot. Other garbage and litter was swept underneath all of the weeds in the lot. I actually watched all of this happen. The owner of the lot never comes out to clean the outside sidewalks surrounding the lot which are constantly having litter dumped and then piles up. I have been out there many times to clean that area.

2. 170-17 89th Avenue: Another empty lot with a wooden fence which garbage has been dumped in front of it. I have been complaining for several weeks regarding this and no one has cleaned this up. In the meantime, the garbage continues to pile up.

3.Block 9803 on 90th Avenue between 170th & 169th Street: Another empty lot with a wooden fence that has garbage tossed in front of it. Again I have been complaining about this for many months and garbage continues to pile up and the owner has rarely been out to take care of this. This was the same lot in which the large wooden fence was falling down and I had filed complaint on this so many times to no avail. It was Howard Thompson from "Help Me Howard" who came out and did a story on this issue and got it resolved.

4. LIRR Tunnel on 170th Street between 93rd Avenue and Archer Avenue: This is a notorious dumping ground for not only regular garbage and litter, but big items such as mattresses, shopping carts, tires, garbage bags, wood, etc (which can be seen in my video). This is a major problem area for illegal dumping and an area which should be monitored or at the very lease have warning signs up.

These are just a few areas that are within a close distant to where I live. There are many areas all over Jamaica like this and worse. This seems to be the only area in Queens that has a problem of this magnitude and also does not get addressed or resolved.

Please watch the video that I made on May 27th showing the above areas plus some other areas with this garbage situation.

Will anyone stand up and do something about this ongoing major problem? I realize that many of the people who live in this area (and the influx of immigrants) have no regard to their environment and treat this neighborhood like a garbage dump. I also realize that many owners of these vacant lots take no responsibility for these properties, but the city's response to this issue is extremely poor and seems to take no action or very little action against the owners of these vacant and abandoned lots.

This situation is a total disgrace which would not happen in other areas of Queens. Some of you are the leaders and public servant in our community and I want to know how can you allow this situation to have gotten to this point and further more why are you not doing something about it. You all should hold your heads in shame on this issue.

"I have a recurring chronic problem that I need your help with (as I asked in the past), the crap neighbors next door to me at 93-45 ______ are at it once again.It used to be that they had a loud party about once a month, but they've been out there four consecutive weekends. The cops did come by and quiet them on 5/12, but they were right back at it the next weekend.That's bad enough, but yesterday they resumed burning wood for their BBQ (they place a caldron on top). Last summer, they burnt an old bed-frame!And now for the daily annoyance: their bottle and can recycling business. This can start before 6 AM and run to midnight. They store their garbage as far away from their house as possible. Which means it's kept right next to the fence that adjoins my property. This smelly mix brings about little - and not so little - rodents which makes me fearful for my dogs. Who know what the rodents might drop (and do)? Today, I had to chase off a mouse that wanted to come into my house! Arghh!!! And, rain is no deterrent to their garbage picking as you can see from the pic below taken less than an hour ago.

I've placed calls to 311 for years about this house and not a damn thing changes. These "people" simply don't care about anyone else but themselves.

My apologies if this message isn't as lucid as it should be, but I'm f^&*#*g pissed off, severely stressed and sick and tired of this constant destruction of our quality of life. Especially since there's enough other crap going on around here that we have to endure.

I'd love to move, but to where and with what money?? And what's not to say that there's another family of a-holes waiting there?

My wife is afraid of retaliation on their part if we complain (we've already had some trouble along these lines), but why the hell should we be forced to live this way? - Rich Parkwood

PS My nice neighbors (on the other side of my house) think that they are renting out beds like a hostel. I wasn't sure about that idea until I saw three unfamiliar backpackers arrive yesterday evening."

Industries that use pesticides, treat wastewater and store hazardous chemicals could have penalties for breaking pollution laws reduced or waived if they agree to self-report violations under a policy being considered by New York’s leading environmental regulator.

Any entity that enters into an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to self-audit would also “not be prioritized for inspection during the audit period,” stated a draft of the proposed policy obtained by the Gotham Gazette.

The proposed policy was expected to be discussed at the DEC's regional directors meeting earlier today.

The DEC regulates sources of air and water pollution, including private industry, agricultural uses, and municipal facilities like waste transfer stations and sewage treatment plants. It is responsible for enforcing over 40 New York State environmental laws and over 50 federal laws, including provisions of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. The agency would also be charged with regulating hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.

The self-audit policy, described in a draft document dated May 14, would apply to any private business or public entity, including federal, state and municipal agencies and facilities, which are regulated under state environmental law.

A self-audit, however, “is not required for disclosure and may not be warranted in certain circumstances,” the document states. Environmental violations involving suspected criminal conduct would not be eligible for a penalty waiver.

Further, the DEC would conduct an inspection if it receives “a complaint concerning the regulated entity or have reason to believe that a violation has occurred resulting in serious actual harm.”

DEC Executive Deputy Commissioner Marc Gerstman said the goal of the proposed policy was to promote compliance with environmental laws.

There's a time and a place for everything — even farebeating, in one City Councilman’s opinion.

Councilman Robert Jackson said he told his wife to duck under the turnstiles at the 181st St. station on the A line, which had a broken MetroCard machine, rather than walk to a staffed entrance at 184th St.

“I told her to go under,” Jackson said. “I would have gone under.

“Whoever goes to buy a MetroCard should be entitled to a free ride if the machines aren’t working, if there’s no token booth clerk there,” he added.

The MTA swiped back.

“Farebeating is a crime,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said. “It’s wrong. It’s illegal, and it deprives the MTA of the money it needs to carry you on the subway.”

Here you go, folks. Apparently this is a TV series. The latest installment is about LIC. Too bad the "expert tour guide" they interviewed in the first segment doesn't know that the graffiti artists' building has been called 5 Pointz for more than a decade and that the Phun Phactory moved to Brooklyn. Makes you wonder what other bullshit official tour guides are telling tourists that don't know any better. No mention that LIC still lacks basic amenities. But you can booze it up on a fake beach. Now that's living.

A Queens lawmaker wants to legalize betting on professional sports in New York — and his proposed legislation has the backing of one of the state’s top prosecutors, Brooklyn DA Charles “Joe” Hynes, The Post has learned.

State Sen. Tony Avella’s bill would allow betting on baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer at the Aqueduct and Yonkers racinos and all casinos across the state, as well as off-track betting parlors outside the city.

Currently, only betting on horse racing is legal.

Such legalized betting in the sports-crazed Big Apple could become a cash cow for the state, where fans passionately follow — and often illegally bet on — the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets Knicks and Rangers.

Citing a study conducted by the New York City Partnership five years ago, Democrat Avella said betting on pro sports would generate more than $2 billion.

He said the state’s cut from the racino sports book would go to fund schools.

“We have to think out of the box. I’d rather come up with revenue this way rather than raising property taxes,” said Avella.

He claimed said studies show illegal sports betting generates more than $100 billion nationally and as much as $15 billion to $30 billion in New York City alone — much of it feeding organized crime.

And that’s why Hynes is supporting the measure. He said sports betting should be regulated by the government and benefit the public, not crooks.

Since its attempt to acquire more land on the Creedmoor Psychiatric Campus in Bellerose fell through last year, the Indian Cultural and Community Center is hoping to provide alternative access to its proposed developments, but the community is reluctant to approve anything before investigations into the center’s controversial dealings are concluded.

The center is now looking for approval from the city Board of Standards and Appeals to provide access through a vehicular easement on the eastern side of the property by 82nd Avenue.

Due to a scheduling conflict, the community board’s Land Use Committee report was not available Monday, so members could not vote on the application, although the surrounding controversies seemed to be enough to put them off on from taking any position on the center’s dealings.

“Given the fact that we have never had any closure on any investigations that are taking place within the state, I feel that we are not in a position to vote either way on anything regarding this,” said CB 13 member Charlie Farruggia.

When the state’s legislative lines were redrawn earlier this year, the Creedmoor Campus was removed from state Sen. Tony Avella’s (D-Bayside) district and placed in Sen. Malcolm Smith’s (D-St. Albans).

Avella has been a vocal critic of the original land deal, and Smith introduced the bill on the second one, though he later pulled his support.

The mob-linked demolition company running jobs on which two workers have died as part of Columbia’s West Harlem expansion has been booted from the project, the Daily News has learned.

Brooklyn-based Breeze National, which was demolishing a building on W. 131st St. that collapsed in March, killing one worker and injuring two others, is no longer on the job at the Manhattanville construction site.

Breeze has been doing work at six additional properties on the 17-acre expansion site, according to records.

Juan Vicente Ruiz, Sr., 69, died when a wall of the building came crashing down in March. His family is now suing the Ivy League school, charging the construction site was unsafe.

Inspectors had issued a previous stop work order and assessed Breeze with violations for failing to notify the city that it was starting demolition and failing to properly safeguard the people and property that were affected.

It wasn’t the first time a Breeze National worker died on a Columbia demolition job. Two years ago, 51-year-old Jozef Wilk fell to his death while demolishing a Columbia-owned building on Broadway.

Breeze spokeswoman Sarah Berman declined to comment on the firm’s removal, but said “it has not been deemed they did anything wrong” in connection with the March collapse, adding that the cause was likely a structural defect.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

NY1 received Council Speaker Christine Quinn's schedules through a Freedom of Information Law request.

More than 600 hours were blacked out. Hours council officials say include events that if disclosed would be an unwarranted invasion of the speaker's personal privacy.

They could be instances when she goes to spinning class in TriBeCa. They could also be certain instructions to staff or interagency deliberations that aren't finalized.

"It seems that there might have been names, names of staff members for example, public employees, other people that Ms. Quinn might have met that did involve the performance of her duties," said Robert Freeman of the State Committee on Open Government. "It would be difficult to understand why those names would be redacted."

The schedules do reveal that Quinn has met with at least four campaign fundraisers during the work week. Half were in the council's offices.

The New York State Democratic Party denied embattled city Comptroller John Liu a slot to attend the 2012 convention in Charlotte, NC, this summer to nominate President Obama for re-election, The Post has learned.

The federal criminal probe of Liu’s campagn finances played a role in the decision not to name the comptroller as an at-large delegate, sources said.

“It certainly didn’t help,” said one party insider.

A Liu spokesman confirmed he was frozen out.

“John is heartbroken that he won’t be able to help renominate President Obama, but he will continue to campaign vigorously for his re-election in every way possible,” said Liu campaign spokesman George Arzt.

[Assembly Member Rory] Lancman...stood with civic leaders in Bowne Park Friday to discuss the proposed Homes and Essential Landmarks Preservation Act aimed at combatting overdevelopment at the federal level, which Lancman would look to enact if he wins the Congressional election.

The HELP Act would limit tax deductions for property owners not in compliance with zoning laws, promote tax credits for properties listed in the National Historic Register, fund the city and state’s zoning enforcement, and clarify the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act to ensure religious institutions do not ignore zoning regulations.

“Overdevelopment destroys the character of our communities,” Lancman said. “The HELP Act is a federal solution to the proliferation of McMansions, improperly zoned offices, inappropriate commercial development and overly large community facilities where single-family homes and small businesses once stood, and the desecration of historic sites and neighborhoods by developers who put profits ahead of the interest of residents.”

No amount of City Hall spin could change what the video reveals: A Mayor repeatedly violating a city-imposed noise curfew at an East side heliport.

So after two Eyewitness News reports documenting Mayor Bloomberg's noisy weekend intrusions, 8 in just one weekend, he announced he would use another heliport.

Dr. Ron Sticco, a fed up resident who recorded the scofflaw Mayor's helicopter movements, says he's pleased with Bloomberg's decision:

"This is about respecting the community and abiding by the rules. I'm happy but I really wish it had never come to anything like this," Sticco said.The Mayor could now end up using the city-owned Wall Street heliport, which is open during weekends. An obviously miffed Mayor brushed off the entire curfew controversy:

"Don't know why it's such a big deal. If that's the news that's fit to print in this day in age, it's a sad day," he said.

But the Sticcos and others say when the Mayor, a man of great wealth and power, behaves as though rules don't apply to him and then gets caught - that they say is newsworthy.

Residents say for an urgent matter or an emergency, no one would blame the mayor for using the heliport, but 8 times in one weekend, they say shows blind arrogance.

Friday, May 25, 2012

A city decision to repair an outer-borough boardwalk with wood has opponents of the Coney Island Boardwalk’s upcoming concrete makeover accusing the Parks Department of turning back on its word.

Agency officials have said repeatedly that repairing city boardwalks with wood was no longer a viable option — sparking the move to replace the iconic Coney Island Boardwalk with concrete and plastic lumber.

But the city began repairing a 10-block stretch of the longer, but far less exciting, Rockaway boardwalk with lumber last week — a move that has Coney Boardwalk advocates spitting nails.

But city officials say they’re not flip-flopping.

“Under a full reconstruction of the Rockaway boardwalk, we would consider using concrete,” said Parks Department spokeswoman Meghan Lalor, who said repairs on the Rockaway boardwalk, which drew 3.6 million visitors last year, will replace planks Hurricane Irene turned into kindling last year.

A one-mile section of the 5.5-mile walk has already been paved over with concrete, Lalor noted.

Residents and officials usually oppose bids by power plants in this Queens neighborhood, which they say has suffered from pollution and high asthma rates for years.

But this time they have thrown their support behind NRG's move to replace its generators to cut peak emissions by 98 percent.

Smart Power NY, a coalition of elected officials and community leaders, formed in April to promote the NRG's bid for a deal to sell power to the grid, which is necessary to obtain financing for the $1.5 billion project.

The group is trying to garner as much support from state and federal officials as possible ahead of May 30 deadline, organizers said at a meeting in Astoria Wednesday night.

The Princeton, N.J.-based company wants to replace 31 decades-old generators, which are currently using primarily oil, with four new units, which would use mostly natural gas.

The switch would allow the company to increase energy production from 600 Megawatts to 1040 Megawatts, increasing generation efficiency by 56 percent while reducing on-site peak day emissions by 98 percent, according to NRG.

Company officials also said the project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons each year, the equivalent of removing 185,000 cars from New York City’s streets.

The City Council is proposing letter grades for the city's subway stations.

During a Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday, Councilmember Peter Koo suggested the agency should come up with letter grades similar to those issued to restaurants for each of the 468 subway stations.

The committee's chairman, Bronx Councilman James Vacca, says he plans to introduce a non-binding resolution urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to do so.

The Forest Park Carousel, a turn-of-the-century treasure shuttered since 2008, is ready for a whole new generation of riders.

The historic amusement opens its doors to the public on Saturday and the new operators are hoping crowds will come to savor old memories and make some new ones.

The carousel, crafted by master carver Daniel Carl Muller, was first brought to Forest Park in the 1970s to replace one that burned down in 1966.

In 1989, it underwent a meticulous restoration but has languished while under the care of previous concessionaires, who griped it generated little revenue.

In the few weeks since the Parks Department gave NY Carousel the nod to operate the site, the improvements are noticeable.

The wood floors has been buffed and a new coat of paint has brightened up the carousel’s interior. Light bulbs were replaced and a new safety gate gives visitors a closer and better view of the galloping animals.

Here’s the video that served as Sen. Mike Gianaris’ response at last night’s LCA show, in which he and his fellow reform-minded Democrats poked fun at their quixotic quest for an independent redistricting process.

The seven-minute spoof opens with Gianaris, who has been pushing for an overhaul of the state’s political line-drawing system since he was in the Assembly, brainstorming with Sens. Kevin Parker and Liz Krueger about how to make Gov. Andrew Cuomo stick to his pledge to veto the Senate GOP’s gerrymandered plan.

At his colleagues’ urging, Gianaris places a personal call to the governor’s office, only to be hung up on by a secretary.

He plays through, however, pretending for his fellow senators’ sake to to give the governor a piece of his mind while in reality, the dial tone is echoing loudly in his ear.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is rich, and New Yorkers often forgive him for it. His rarefied life of weekend homes in Bermuda and private jet flights to Paris has not stopped him from earning the votes of constituents who give him credit for competence and leadership.

But being a billionaire is one thing, and breaking the rules another. So it was on Wednesday that Mr. Bloomberg, an experienced pilot, found himself under fire after he was discovered flying his private helicopter where he was not supposed to.

An amateur video, filmed by an annoyed Manhattanite and broadcast Tuesday on WABC-TV, showed the mayor landing and taking off several times over the weekend from the East 34th Street helipad, where trips on Saturday and Sunday have been expressly banned for more than a decade.

On Wednesday, a City Hall spokesman said Mr. Bloomberg would not be flying from the helipad on weekends any longer.

A fire that broke out in the basement apartment of a Queens home led investigators to a possible crime scene.

A woman, 33, whose body was covered in marks, was transported to Flushing Hospital according to the FDNY. Initially, she was recovered from a traumatic arrest by rescuers, but was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, fire officials said.

Rescuers also discovered a man, 50, in the process of attempting to hang himself in a closet, said Brown. The fire turned out to be a small one, the FDNY said.

The man was in transported to New York Hospital Queens in cardiac arrest Wednesday night, and was last listed in serious condition, fire officials said.

Rescuers recieved a call at 7:24 p.m. to the two-story home on 214th Place near 40th Avenue for a fire that started in the basement of the home, the FDNY said.

The woman had been found inside the basement unit on a bed, Brown said.

Investigators believed that gas in the kitchen of the basement apartment may have set off the fire, which prompted a neighbor to call 911, Brown said.

The city Department of Sanitation’s police force has beefed up neighborhood patrols to combat the theft of valuable recyclable scrap metal carted to the curb.

“It’s a continuing problem, one that the department is very aggressively trying to combat,” said Vito Turso, a spokesman for the Sanitation Department, noting that old ovens, refrigerators and air-conditioning units command high prices at scrap yards these days.

Last year, a whopping 46 percent of the appliances put out for recycling were not at the location at the time of pickup — apparently taken by roving scrap-metal thieves.

That’s a jump from 36 percent the previous year. So far, for 2012, the rate is at 43 percent, or roughly 11,000 missed pickups.

The city has a contract with Sims Metal Management to recycle the scrap — and the city gets a cut of Sims’ action in return.

Sims has estimated it loses up to $4 million a year from the thievery, meaning city coffers are getting hit hard, too.

Republicans in the state government in Albany, N.Y., are attempting to pass a law that would ban anonymous comments on the Internet (to articles such as this one, or even to websites such as the one you're reading this on now). That clever login name you came up with? Sorry, you'll have to use your real name instead.

Luckily for all of us, this is never going to happen. Even if New York Republicans had their way, and actually passed their so-called Internet Protection Act, once it arrived in a federal court it would be tossed out in a "New York minute" (as they say).

This isn't just overconfidence in the judicial branch or civil libertarian smugness, either (although the "New York minute" bit is admittedly rather snarky). Legal precedent from only a few years ago already exists, which not only puts the First Amendment stamp of approval on online anonymity, it actually says that any attempt to uncover the identity of the commenter would be unconstitutional. And the case hinged not on political comments on a website but actual email spam. Political spam is protected free speech -- so how can website comments not be?

Speaking out on politics in whatever technological medium exists -- and remaining anonymous while doing so -- is not just one of the foundational rights our government was built on, it was actually largely responsible for our nation and our government even existing.

That is not going to be taken away by any misguided modern group of politicians in Albany, New York. Whether they've read and understood the Constitution or not will not matter, even if this pathetic excuse of a law is actually passed. Because it won't last that "New York minute" in federal court, before it is tossed on the historical ash-heap of past attempts at such censorship -- and, indeed, laughed right out of the courtroom.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Illegal dumpers are tarnishing the Big Apple in a big way, but now the city is fighting back with a trash sting, CBS 2′s Maurice DuBois reported.

Illegal dumpers pull up in the middle of the night, maybe even on your block, bearing bags of trash — old furniture, tires and used appliances. New Yorkers are fed up with it.

But there’s a very good chance they will get caught – by the Sanitation Department’s police force.

CBS 2 went undercover with Officers Chad Jacobson and Kevin Torres who stake out, follow and apprehend violators. Violators like one man who was seen dumping a potentially dangerous propane tank on a Brooklyn sidewalk.

Senate Minority Leader John Sampson should enjoy the rest of the year — because his tenure as the chamber’s top Democrat is likely to end at the start of 2013.

Senate Democratic insiders say there is virtually no chance Sampson will return as leader should the Dems capture the majority in the fall elections. And there is little likelihood he will be retained as Dem boss if the effort falls short.

“The writing is on the wall,” one said.

Sampson (D-Brooklyn) is personally well-regarded by Democrats and many Senate GOPers.

But this isn’t personal — it’s politics.

His leadership has come under fire after a string of head-scratching decisions that left many Dems angry and embarrassed.

In December, he selected controversial lawyer Ravi Batra as the Senate minority's sole representative on the state ethics commission despite outcry from his rank-and-file.

The last straw likely came when Sampson recently decided to give his top aide a $50,000-a-year raise. A number of his members exploded after learning about it in the Daily News — and the pay hike was quickly rescinded.

“These bad decisions on top of other ones he made basically made it clear that John can’t be the leader,” one high-ranking Dem said bluntly.

Meanwhile, a breakaway group of four Democrats who formed their own independent caucus have indicated they will not return if Sampson remains. (The four will be needed to return to the fold if the Dems have any chance of retaking the majority.)

The wealthiest 1 percent of New York City residents took in nearly one-third of the personal income in the city in 2009 — almost double the comparable proportion nationwide, a new study shows.

In a report scheduled to be released on Monday, the city comptroller’s office found that large percentages of New Yorkers earned high incomes and low incomes, leaving a smaller middle class than in the nation as a whole.

The report analyzed tax filings by city residents for income earned from 2000 through 2009, the most recent data available, and compared them with the national numbers. All of the numbers were adjusted for inflation.

The most striking difference between New York and the rest of the United States, the report showed, was the concentration of earning power at the high end.

In 2009, nearly 15,000 filers reported adjusted gross income of $1 million or more. They accounted for less than half of 1 percent of the total number of filers, but they took in 26.7 percent of the income in the city. Nationally, people who earned at least $1 million in 2009 collected less than 10 percent of all the income.

The comptroller’s report also revealed that New York had a smaller bulge in its middle than the rest of the country. Nationally, about 31 percent of filers earned $50,000 to $200,000, and they took in 52 percent of all the personal income in the country. In New York, just 28 percent of filers fell into that income bracket, and they collected only 36 percent of all the personal income in the city.

There is outrage over a little known New York City ordinance that some families claim is not allowing them to properly mourn their loved ones buried at cemetery in Queens.

The ordinance forbids cemetery visitors to place flowers in water. It's all part of a citywide effort to prevent West Nile Virus, but many people say it's ridiculous. "This is a place that's supposed to be after life peaceful not people giving out tickets," says Andy Pilizota. Daniel Austin runs the cemetery, and he says two days before Mother's Day, their busiest week, an inspector from the Health Department walked the grounds. He had no idea, until Monday, he got a notice in the mail, saying the inspector found, "conditions conducive to the breeding of mosquitoes. Water in vases and flower pots throughout the property, some that contained larvae." It's a violations, something officials take very seriously in order to prevent cases of West Nile Virus. Daniel was fined $1,200. "I've done everything physically to curtail water or standing water with the grounds of this 225 acre sprawling cemetery," he says. That's the irony, there is a zero tolerance for standing water there. Signs clearly warn visitors not to bring it in from mid-April to the end of October. Staff looks for empties containers, even going as far as completely closing down facets but with only 15 full time workers and roughly 250,000 grave sites, Daniel says it's impossible to be everywhere at every time. He feels the health department is unfairly targeting him and other cemeteries.

Because Willets Point is far from being ready to attract home buyers, builders want to push back the housing component until 2025. They would start by cleaning up a 20-acre swath that needs extensive remediation—greater than the 12.75 acres called for in the request for proposals. Related and Sterling Equities would then build parking lots, a retail strip and a 200-room hotel just to the east of Citi Field along 126th Street.

After that, they would add a new component to the project—an approximately 1 million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex on the parking lots just west of Citi Field. This new piece became possible because the Mets control the lease. Tentatively called “Willets West,” the mall would connect Willets Point and Citi Field to Corona, expanding the scope of the redevelopment and creating thousands more jobs. It serves two main purposes: to make the rest of the project economically viable and to make the desolate area more of a destination before the housing comes in.

Once the mall west of Citi Field is built, the developers would start construction on the housing and additional retail space east of the stadium. The city negotiated a clause in the deal that would force the developers to pay $35 million if they don't break ground on the housing by 2025. The city could also replace the developers at that point.

The city's budget for the project hasn't changed—it still has about $400 million earmarked—but some of that money will be moved around to help the developers with remediation and infrastructure. Economic activity from the initial parts of Related/Sterling project will allow the city to put $65 million into its capital budget for 2020 to build Van Wyck Expressway ramps that are needed for the housing.

The changes virtually ensure that one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's signature economic development initiatives will not get off the ground before he leaves office. Assuming approvals are granted, the new plan calls for remediation to begin in 2014.

"A question: A little after 10 PM last Wednesday there was an armed home invasion down the block from me on 94 Avenue (that's what the rumor is). There were loads of police cars (both marked and unmarked), ambulances and even a police helicopter. I've looked at all the local news websites, but cannot find any mention of this incident. Have you heard anything??" - anonymous

Monday, May 21, 2012

Elizabeth Crowley wants you to believe that she was the one that secured the resources to design, develop, and implement the new schools within her Council District.

As a matter of fact Crowley mailed a piece of campaign literature all across Queens to curry favor with those deeply concerned about Education in her bid to become your Congresswoman from the 6th District, however upon research and review and confirmation from her office spokesman, she’s taking credit for schools that were budgeted and started construction prior to her even being elected to the City Council.

“Elizabeth Crowley fought for the resources to open four new public schools to relieve overcrowding in her City Council District,” according to her campaign mail.

Her spokesman, Eric Yun, indicated that the “Metropolitan High School site was funded by Elizabeth”, but a check of District Education sources and community leaders indicate that the development of this site goes back to 2001, during the days of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Those in the community clearly recall Forest City Ratner was going to place a 35 multiplex movie theater. The community and its elected officials were adamantly opposed and the site was eventually turned over to the Department of Education for an 8 acre educational complex.

Who really fought for the funding?

District 24 Community Education Council president Nick Comaianni said it wasn’t Liz.

According to Comaianni,

“It [the funding] came from CEC24 that lobbied the Chancellor to get as much money to deal with the overcrowding. These schools go back to the capital budget in 2005, we had 3,600 seats and we lobbied for an extra 3,000 seats and we got it with the help of Councilman Gallagher.”

(Btw: Crowley’s spokesperson did not even realize that the Metropolitan Campus is NOT within her Council District it is actually in the 29th District occupied by Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz. To be fair we should mention that the leader in that high school fight was Councilwoman Melinda Katz.)

The second school Elizabeth is falsely asserting she delivered is the new Maspeth High School which hasn’t even opened its doors. This project first appeared in the 2005 Capital Plan four years before Elizabeth was sworn into office. Oddly this school was the subject of great debate and many in the community opposed the construction. Elizabeth told the Daily News that she would “oppose this development if the school were not locally zoned.”

Yun contacted us after his initial quotes to retract his statement. Yun said he had “misspoke” and that Crowley fought to keep local zoning and construction, which did in fact occur before her election into office. He said two of the four schools mentioned in Crowley’s literature were schools in Richmond Hill. Richmond Hill is outside the 6th Congressional District.

Yun initially indicated two additional schools were elementary schools, but couldn’t name them. Checking the district, the only three schools to be developed were PS113 and PS128 and PS49. Does Elizabeth really believe this to be true? Does she believe that she fought for those resources? How do you fight for something that’s already in the budget? All of the aforementioned schools were under construction well prior to her election!

Q. I once worked using a phony social security card. Will that keep me from getting U.S. citizenship? When I first came to the United States, I had trouble finding work. Everywhere I went, employers asked me for a social security card. Finally, I paid someone to get me a card using someone else’s documents. Later, when I got my own employment authorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, I got a new card at the Social Security office. The clerk there said she corrected the information in my social security records.

I.O., N.Y.

A. Your having worked using a phony social security card shouldn’t keep you from naturalizing. Using a false card is not, by itself, grounds for denying you U.S. citizenship. Note however, that making a false claim to U.S. citizenship is grounds for denying permanent residence and for deportation. If when using your phony social security card to work you claimed that you were a U.S. citizen, and USCIS finds out, you could have problems. Courts have restricted immigration’s right to penalize a person for claiming U.S. citizenship in employment. If you have concerns however, see an immigration law expert before applying for naturalization. I doubt USCIS will deny you citizenship, but you should be ready should that happen. That said, getting a new card was the right thing to do. If your employers were deducting taxes and reporting your income using the phony card, the Social Security Administration should credit your social security retirement payments to your new account. So, by “reconciling” the two accounts, if you retire in the United States you can get credit for all the time you worked.

As a member of the City Council, I'm used to my every move being public. It's one of the downsides to a life of public service, but I have grown accustomed to it. Today, however, I need to share with you something about the most private of subjects - my personal health.

On Wednesday, I will undergo a neurosurgical procedure to remove a benign tumor. It's a lengthy operation that will require me to remain in the hospital for the rest of the week. Then, after all goes well, I'll return home to rest and recuperate. My doctors expect a speedy recovery, and I hope to be back on my feet within a few weeks -- and get back to the business of serving you in City Hall and fighting for our district, the middle class, and our shared values.

I had the good fortune to have been timely diagnosed, back in March. Since then, I have introduced legislation to reform the Board of Standards and Appeals, fought against the DEP's water rate hikes, and helped revitalize a blighted lot in Whitestone. And I've gone to every Council meeting, attended all hearings for the committees I oversee, and been to a host of events to support our local charitable organizations, youth sports associations, and senior centers. While this has been in the back of my mind the whole time, as you can see, it hasn't slowed me down. Nothing can.

As with any operation, there is the potential for complications. I'll admit to being afraid. Who wouldn't be?

But my surgery is a small ordeal compared to what many New Yorkers are going through. I will keep you all in my mind as I fight through this surgery so I can get back to working for you.

I am fortunate to have good doctors working to resolve my health issues and a great staff who will be there for our community day in and day out. There will be no lack of attention to your needs while I am on the mend, and my staff will continue to provide the best constituent service in the City of New York.

In the meantime, I ask for your thoughts during these next two weeks, and welcome the prayers and well-wishes of those who have expressed their concern.

It is deeply gratifying to realize how much so many of you care. Know that I will be back to fight for you and for our neighborhoods as soon as possible.

In Service,Dan Halloran

I personally wish Dan a speedy recovery since half of my material is derived from his antics.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Interesting how a "local civic leader" can continue to illegally promote his businesses in the community with impunity. This one was taken outside of PS209 and was placed well over 10 feet up, making in impossible to reach and remove. Questions are: How did they get it so high up? Did they have a permit for the equipment used to illegally get it up? Why is this being allowed?

When we inquired in the school, we were told they have complained about that same company's signs around the entire school to 311 numerous times, and nothing has been done. "As a matter of fact more signs were placed."

I am once again making a complaint about the huge litter/garbage problem in Jamaica in various areas all over our community that just does not seem to get resolved. I have talked to others in the community who feel the same way I do and have heard people talk about this issue at the Community Board Meetings and at Senator Smith's most recent town hall meeting, where I spoke to Department of Sanitation Community Affairs Officer Iggy Terranova about this issue. It is ironic that Jamaica has the most landmarked buildings in all of Queens (approximately 15, something to be very proud of) but has the worst garbage/litter dumping problem of the borough. Of course Jamaica has many problems such as foreclosures, crime, black on black crime, high unemployment, but this garbage problem is just as important an issue since it is the first thing that people see when they come into our community and speaks volumes about our community. It not only is an eyesore and an ugly blight on Jamaica, but it brings with it pests and rodents, lowers property values in the neighborhood and deters quality people from moving into Jamaica, which I feel has so much potential and can become another downtown Brooklyn. This problem need to be addressed and have solutions to not only clean it up, but to stop it from constantly continuing. Personally speaking, I am again complaining about some problem areas that I have complained about the past several times to very little avail. One is a vacant lot with garbage inside it and on the outside on the sidewalk right next to where I live. This fenced vacant lot is on the NW corner of 170th St & 90th Avenue (next to my co-op building, Avalon Terrace Apartments). I have been complaining since the beginning of 2011 to not only all of you, but have filed numerous complaints by both phone and on-line to 311 and the Department of Sanitation (at least 20 times). All I ever hear it that it takes time. Well, over a year is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The summer of 2011, the owner of that lot finally came out and started to clean-up both the outside and inside of the lot, BUT left the garbage bags along with other debris in the empty lot and has never removed this, plus new various types of garbage (bottles, cans, bags, umbrellas, etc.) have been thrown inside this lot and just continues to pile up, not only on the inside but on the sidewalks as well, plus the weeds on the sidewalks are getting a couple of feet high, a perfect place to dump more garbage. I have cleaned this sidewalk several times even though it is not my property otherwise it will just continue to pile up like it did when I first complained about it a year ago. Here it is May of 2012 and this problem has never been adequately taken care of. Now with the warmer weather and another summer approaching this problem is just going to escalate. I wonder how many of you would tolerate this if you lived in my building or would allow this to happen in your neighborhoods.Another lot (Block 9803, Lot 7, Lot 6) on 90th Avenue (between 170th St and 169th St) which is just two lots west from the above lot, also has a major litter problem in front of it on the sidewalk. This lot has a huge wooden fence in front of it (which was falling down into the sidewalk and only was taken care of because of Howard Thompson from "Help Me Howard" who saw my video on You Tube) and garbage is always piling up in front of it on the sidewalk, including a dead raccoon last year and a few days ago had a dead squirrel along with various garbage. The squirrel is gone, but the garbage is still there. Another empty lot on 89th Avenue on the North side of the street (between 170th and 171st), which just recently had a home torn down, also has a garbage problem in front of it as well. Garbage gets dumped all the time in front of that lot and it just piles up.The tunnel on 170th Street between Jamaica Avenue and Archer Avenue is a notorious dumping ground for everything you can think of, from garbage bags to mattresses. At this time, there is a small amount of garbage, but that is a big trouble spot.These are 4 places which are all in close proximity to where I live and there are many others all over Jamaica, including the Post Office Parking Lot and the surrounding sidewalk on 90th Avenue and the vacant lot at the corner of Merrick Boulevard and Foch, right across from the park (although I have been told that this was recently cleaned up by some community group). I am sure there are many, many other places that I have not even seen, but have heard people complain about.

I realize that some of the people who live here and visit Jamaica are the culprits of dumping the litter and garbage, BUT the owners of such properties are majorly responsible for cleaning their areas on a continuous basis. Also the city needs to respond to these complaints in a more appropriate and timely fashion. Again I do not think dealing with some of these same problems for over a year is acceptable. I have no idea what the fines are against property owners, but a huge increase in fines should be considered as well as turning some of these properties over to community groups who actually care about our neighborhood.I am once again asking for help in this matter since I cannot do this all alone. I am going to continually monitor this situation near me as I have been. This problem needs to be addressed once and for all and everyone on this list should be ashamed that this problem is not getting taken care of and also continues over and over again. I am willing to work with all of you, other politicians, and the city to see that this situation gets addressed. This type of problem does not happen (nor would it be tolerated) in Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Long Island City, Astoria, Maspeth and other places in Queens, but for some reason it is allowed to happen in Jamaica at an alarming rate and does not seem to get addressed properly. I do my share by filing complaints, document the areas and even going out on on weekends to clean the sidewalk in front of the empty lot by my building, but I can only do so much.

Jamaica has so much potential with it's wonderful history, historical buildings (the amazing Loew's Wonder Theatre), various parks, a burgeoning arts community (including the Jamaica Performing Arts Center Black Spectrum Theatre, York College, etc), close proximity to highways, airports, train stations, but if the city cannot even keep it clean, how are we going to attract the necessary people and businesses here to help Jamaica rise above its image and other problems. Jamaica can be the crowning jewel of Queens but as it stands it is the eyesore and embarrassment of Queens.

Please help with this ongoing problem. I know I will not stop complaining to all of you and will make my voice heard until it gets addressed properly.

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